Scholarship created for students in Ukrainian Studies

A new scholarship has been established for students in the Ukrainian Studies Program at the University of Kansas.

Peter Jarosewycz of Kansas City, Mo., a retired attorney, is establishing the Jarosewycz Family Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies in honor of his late parents, Dmytro and Maria, and aunt Olha.

Jarosewycz immigrated to the United States in 1949 with his parents and aunt, who taught him to appreciate his Ukrainian heritage.

“I decided to set up the scholarship at KU in their honor because it is one of the few universities in the United States with a graduate program in Ukrainian studies,” Jarosewycz said. “There are several faculty members from Ukraine and there is a frequent exchange of students and faculty between KU and universities in Ukraine, especially Ivan Franko University, from which both of my parents received their medical degrees.”

The Ukrainian Studies Program is administered through KU’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. It is one of the few Ukrainian studies programs in the United States. As part of the Ukrainian Studies Program, the center conducts a summer school at Ivan Franko University in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv is the largest city in western Ukraine and attracts university students from all over the world. Alex Tsiovkh, professor of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, who also is on the faculty of the University of Lviv, has been the director of the summer school since its inception in 1994.

The program also hosts the Maria Palij Memorial Lecture, a yearly lecture on Ukraine by leading scholars from around the world. Professor Michael Palij established it more than 25 years ago as a memorial to his wife. Although Palij died in 2009, his friends and supporters of Ukrainian studies have continued to fund the Palij lecture.

The Ukrainian Club of Greater Kansas City, which has contributed to the Palij Memorial Lecture for many years, is now contributing to the Jarosewycz Family Scholarship. “The whole CREES community joins in thanking Mr. Jarosewycz for establishing this scholarship, which will support top students in the KU Ukrainian Studies Program,” said Edith W. Clowes, director of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

“Building on the intellectual enrichment that the Palij fund has brought and the various partnerships CREES has had over the years with the Kansas National Guard and the U.S. Army’s Foreign Area Officers Program, the Jarosewycz Family Scholarship will help attract the best and the brightest to graduate study at KU. We are grateful to have a friend like Mr. Jarosewycz with a compelling vision of the future that includes strong expertise on Ukraine.”

The gift will be managed by KU Endowment, the official fundraising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.